I’ve had some really good feedback for my current portrait exhibition at Civic Hall Stanley, but I think my favourite reaction so far has been a conversation I overheard by chance. A group of girls who were looking at the display commented that it’s nice to see real people being used in portraits, rather than photoshopped models. I was really happy to hear that because it’s exactly that approach I’ve been aiming for with my portrait photography – I want to capture the real personality of my subject, often in a spontaneous and relaxed way.

I used this photo of my brother Liam in the exhibition because I think it shows him and the local scenery where I live in an interesting way.

We took several different shots around the area and I love the level of detail in the natural textures and also the muted colour pallette.

These are the kind of images you can expect from one of my location photo shoots, but if you check out my Portrait Gallery you can see that there’s a lot of variety in my work. If you’re interested in a photo shoot then please contact me at helentaylorphotos@gmail.com or have a look at my Price Guide for more info.